Digital electronic systems, e.g., computer systems, often comprise a number of circuit domains that need to communicate with one another using different interfaces, each running at an optimized speed for increased performance. Typically, multiple clock signals having related frequencies are utilized for providing appropriate timing to the interfaces. For instance, a clock signal with a particular frequency may be provided separately to two circuits that are physically spaced apart, wherein one circuit is operable to transmit data to the other. Where data is to be transferred at high rates between a transmitting circuit and a receiving circuit, strobe signaling is also provided by the transmitting circuit via a separate but matched trace such that data may be registered accurately at the receiving end.
Although strobing is more effective than common-clock mode for effectuating error-free data transfer between two synchronous circuit domains, signal skew remains an important factor in the design of digital electronic systems due to the inherent variability of signal tracing and physical placement of the constituent circuit domains. Latches are typically used in conventional implementations for reducing the skew effect with respect to strobed data transfers. Whereas such arrangements have been deemed to be generally useful, several deficiencies persist, however. First, there is the possibility that the duration of valid data can be variable with a latch-based implementation because the latching operation is dependent on when the data pulses arrive with respect to a de-skewed strobe's active state. Additionally, the latched data pulses may be shorter than the incoming data's pulse width, i.e., one or more runt data pulses may be obtained as a result of latching. Not only does the creation of runt pulses reduce the overall efficiency of data registration by the receiving circuitry, but it may also contribute to increased sampling errors. Further aggravation is also induced because of the general complexity of latch-based de-skewing techniques.